Meredith Corp., publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, More and Ladies' Home Journal, will introduce its first lifestyle and shelter magazine for Hispanic women this fall after more than two years of research into a growing market niche.
Called Siempre Mujer! — “Always woman” in Spanish — the bimonthly Spanish-language publication will have an initial rate base of 350,000. Priced at $2.99, the magazine will target mostly immigrant Spanish-speaking women seeking the American dream.
“We saw the need for true service journalism and a major gap and void in this type of content,” said Ruth Gaviria, publisher and executive director of Meredith Hispanic Ventures, New York.
The magazine will carry original articles on home decor and design, parenting and relationships, beauty and fashion, food and entertainment, culture and personal finance. The articles will not be mere translations from Meredith's myriad English-language shelter and lifestyle titles.
Also, covers will reflect the Hispanic woman reader.
“Would we put a celebrity on the cover? We'd be open to that, but only in the right circumstances,” Gaviria said, “because we're not about celebrity. There are many Hispanic celebrity fashion books out there.”
The leading Hispanic celebrity magazine, Time Inc.'s People en Espanol, has a circulation of 425,000.
Johanna Buchholtz-Torres is editor-in-chief of Siempre Mujer! She held the same title at Ser Padres, the first national parenting magazine in Spanish.
Meredith will use newsstands, direct mail and a marketing partnership with home products direct selling firm Home Interiors & Gifts Inc. to promote the magazine. Home Interiors develops and markets a line of home decor items under the Better Homes and Gardens label. Its Hispanic sales force of 30,000 will promote Siempre Mujer! to the nearly 1 million Spanish-speaking households it reaches.
Meredith has experience in Spanish-language publishing. Its American Baby brand produces Hispanic publications like Espera, 12 Meses and Healthy Kids en Espanol. The company also publishes custom publications, including Casi Lista, a magazine for expectant Hispanic parents that last spring was bound into Espera.
Siempre Mujer! is an acknowledgment of the U.S. Hispanic community's growing influence and attractiveness to marketers. Census Bureau data show that, within the next decade, one in five new homeowners will be Hispanic. The Hispanic market of nearly 40 million people, the largest minority group nationwide, represents $600 billion in spending power. This is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2010.
Meredith's new magazine will aim at a slice of the U.S. Hispanic population: 8 million women. Eighty-two percent of this audience was born outside the United States. Their median age is 35, and household income is $35,000. Forty-three percent have a high school diploma, and 49 percent have Internet access. Spanish is their first language.
The data on this segment of Hispanic women were sourced from a recent study by management consultancy McKinsey & Co.
“As this population grows,” Gaviria said, “so will our circulation grow.”
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
